In an allegorical sense the play Everyman seems to present the protagonist, Everyman, into asking each of his friends to offer him succor while death is knocking at his door. This seems to call attention to the abandonment of the traits, which he found to be good in life, but during the end, toward death, they cannot help him.
While the play focuses on the traits which cannot be of any assistance to Everyman in death, the layer of the story continues with these characterizations: Everyman is of course representational of everyman on earth, thus the playwright wished to write a play in which it was accessible to every audience member.The juxtaposition of these characters are as follows: Everyman; strength, God; discretion, Death; five-wits, Messenger: beauty, Fellowship; knowledge, Cousin; Confession, Kindred; Angel, Goods; Doctor, Good Deeds. Thus is the play set up as an allegorical/ morality play in which a very straightforward lesson is to be learned. The play begins with God asking Death to go to Everyman and tell him his time is up since he has sinned too much. Thus, Death being God’s servant he goes to Everyman.
Everyman, scared that his time has come tries to bribe death but Death does not acquiescence but instead tells Everyman that he is allowed to bring one companion with him. Although this play is a morality play, taken in modernity and the definitions, which surround present day, the play seems somewhat satirical, cynical and would make a modern day comedy. A man tries to find a companion to die with him, and is denied again and again by what he presumed to be his closest friends, or his best traits. The satire involved here is the way in which his ‘close’ friends find excuses to not die.Although the characterization of the characters is very cut and dry with little room for interpretation, they do serve their purpose.
The first character or trait that Everyman passes along his path is Fellowship. Everyman explains that he has something he would like Fellowship to do for him. Fellowship, being a true comrade says that he would do anything for Everyman. When Fellowship discovers the favor, which Everyman wishes him to do, Fellowship denies his previous promise and says that he would romp and play and have fun with Everyman, but that doing to Death with him was not a part of Fellowship’s repertoire.The next character whom Everyman passes along his path to Death is Kindred and Cousin.
Everyman bequests them to travel to Death with him but Kindred very point-blank says he will not, and that his preference would be to go to a party instead, while Cousin says he has a cramp in his toe so he cannot go either. This part in the morality play is truly a satirical element with the device of a cramp in one’s toe as the excuse of not accompanying one’s Cousin to Death after a lifetime of friendship.The juxtaposition of these two characters was a genius ploy of the writer because the reader is introduced to a very honest character who does not make excuses and says they would rather visit junkets with Everyman paired with the Cousin, a person of the same blood and lineage who uses a cramp in his toe as a legitimate excuse as to why they cannot travel with Everyman. Thus, the elements of morality, satire, and the definite element of human truth of using any excuse to not die are in perfect context with the morality play Everyman.
At this point in the play Everyman realizes that he has put much of his time on earth accumulating Goods and he believes because of the time invested in this one attribute alone, it is Goods who will travel with him to Death. This classic analogy of taking material possessions to death is one in which most cultures have divulged (Egyptians, Vikings, etc. ) and one in which many writers have written (Anne Bradstreet), but in most cases the material possessions are not ethereal and so cannot traverse the spiritual plan, as is the case in Everyman.Everyman believes that Goods will definitely travel with him to death.
While this is Everyman’s belief, Goods spoils this thought by saying it is Everyman’s own damnation that he put so much time and effort in accumulating Goods that he would not behoove Everyman to take so much with him because it will show what time Everyman did have on earth he used in order to acquire so much stuff. It seems that the play is full of honest and somewhat pundit information as this as was seen with Kindred and now is seen with Goods.Both characters do not spare any amount of honesty on Everyman but tell him exactly why they should not take them with him, why it would be damnation to bring all of one’s worldly possessions with them which is an omission to how they spent their time; gathering. The satire here is that Everyman was sure that Goods was the one thing that he could take with him, the one ‘friend’ who would travel with him to Death because of the extreme amount of time he had spent on Goods and thus, this would be payback in a sense.
In Everyman’s naivety for each character is found a very depressing individual who is very ignorant on what is needed to go to heaven and thus of course is found the morality path the audience must follow in the play, but in terms of modernity, the comedy element must not be forgotten. As Everyman travels to each character he feels more and more depressed and the shining moment he has of thinking that Goods is the one friend who has his back and then this thought is brashly brushed aside, Everyman’s dependency has him completely upset that no friend will travel with him.The comedy and the satire at this point in the play is that in Everyman’s despondent state he has forgotten about Good Deeds. That is the satire and wit of the play, the fact that Everyman races around from friend to friend in a great and increasing panic that after his epiphany of Goods, he cannot think of anyone else to ask to go to Death with him.
It is with Good Deeds that Everyman finds salvation, or at least a friend who will go to Death with him.Good Deeds says she will travel with Everyman to Death but that since Everyman has invested so much time in parties, toe cramps, and love in Goods, she is too weak since Everyman did not love her enough. At this point Knowledge comes into the play that is Good Deed’s sister and helps her onto her feet. It is with Knowledge that Everyman finds guidance and is told by Knowledge that he must go to Confession.
Although these characters are very obvious in the play, and the allegory is not very dense or dynamic, the key is the subtlety of the play and the humble nature of the protagonist.The trait of naivety is what allows the audience to feel associated if somewhat smarter than Everyman, but his lesson is a good one. It is with Confession that Everyman achieves penance. Penance is what gives Good Deeds her strength, enough to walk with Everyman to Death, to plead his case. Good Deeds pleads Everyman’s case, and Good Deeds and Knowledge tell Everyman that he must also have Discretion, Strength, Five-Wits and Beauty to go with him to Death; all of which he has also neglected.
It seems that Everyman has neglected all of the important figures of the play, and though, again this is an obvious moral lesson, the humor is not lost, as a modern day reader may read the play and realize that this man has scrambled through his last hours and found his entire life’s judgment has been off the mark. Thus, the satire in the play for the audience/reader is present since they already know the faults of Everyman before he takes his next step.Each of the characters recommended by Good Deeds and Knowledge travel with Everyman. However, when Everyman reveals to the troupe that he is traveling to Death all forsake him except Good Deeds. The play then ends with a messenger coming out to the audience to say that without Good Deeds everyman will be punished eternally. This is a typically and obvious message in a morality play, but the comedy aspect of the play has been overlooked because of this obvious message.
